The DD-WRT Controversy

Apr 23, 2009, 18:33 (1 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Aaron Weiss)

"If all this sounds like some kind of gibberish, DD-WRT is software that you can load ("flash") onto a compatible wireless router, such as many models in the Linksys WRT54G family. The DD-WRT software replaces the original ("stock") firmware included by the manufacturer and provides many more features, some of which are usually available in only expensive enterprise-grade routers, such as bandwidth monitoring, hotspot management, client and bridge modes, and output power adjustment.

"DD-WRT is not alone among alternative firmware projects. Sveasoft, HyperWRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato all share a common family lineage with DD-WRT that traces back to the original Linksys firmware for its WRT54G V1 router. Because that firmware was licensed as open source software under the GPL, developers downloaded and built upon it. And in fact, DD-WRT is not the first descendant of the original Linksys code to court controversy."

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